Get a Job as a Green Building Professional

A green building professional integrates these principles of triple bottom line into all phases of a building’s life, from inception to demolition. Here are just a few ways in which different green building professionals can foster better communities and buildings:

• Urban planners and developers consider urban context, community connectivity, and transportation.
• A green building professional integrates these principles of triple bottom line into all phases of a building’s life, from inception to demolition.
• Civil engineers ensure that the building and site work well with the surrounding infrastructure, thereby minimizing ecological impact.
• Landscape architects design parks and vegetation to connect the natural and built environments.
• Architects and interior designers create healthy buildings and spaces that include efficient and well-considered resources.
• Mechanical engineers specify natural ventilation or high-efficiency filtering equipment, supplying fresh air to the occupants.
• Facility managers maintain the building with the highest-efficiency equipment and the lowest-impact maintenance program.
• Real estate professionals negotiate leases that create a win-win for both landlord and tenant.
• Green building consultants are generalists in all of these fields. Their typical specialty is in maximizing green building performance across all of these areas.

Green building professionals range in their scope and scale, creating a vast array of structures from commercial buildings to residential homes. This book, however, concentrates more specifical­ly on communities and commercial buildings—including civic, office, education, healthcare, and hospitality—and explores how green building professionals can influence these buildings’ design, construction, and operation.

Professional Legacy

When considering becoming a green building professional (or joining any profession), contemplate your ideal legacy.

Some of the most respected workers in America are doctors, nurses, police officers, firefight­ers, government workers, lawyers, teachers, parents, business owners, nonprofit professionals, poli­ticians, and scientists. In concept, the common thread in all of these fields is the desire to create a positive impact on health, safety, business, and science—on a varying scale from one individual (or animal) up to entire cities, states, or the country as a whole. A green building professional has the same common thread of helping in mind, and sews it into the fabric of our communities, build­ings, homes, and ultimately, our lives.

Green Job Statistics

When thinking about a career path, it is useful to evaluate the future of the job market you are considering. By all accounts, the green build­ing field will only get stronger over the coming years. One well-researched report was released in late 2009, prepared by the prestigious con­sulting firm Booz Allen, which was hired by the U.S. Green Building Council to better define where the market is headed. The company looked specifically at jobs within the green building industry.